1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical semiconductor apparatus constituting an optical signal transmitter-receiver of a bidirectional communication system using a single-core optical fiber. More specifically, it relates to a monolithically integrated optical semiconductor apparatus structured so that it can be easily aligned with the optical fiber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, single-core bidirectional communication systems that perform bidirectional communication using a single-core optical fiber have been put to practical use and have been applied in a wide range of areas.
Here, with reference to FIG. 12, the structure of a known optical signal transmitter-receiver of a single-core bidirectional communication system is described. FIG. 12 is a view showing the structure of a known optical signal transmitter-receiver of a single-core bidirectional communication system.
A known optical signal transmitter-receiver of a single-core bidirectional communication system, as shown in FIG. 12, has a semiconductor laser device 103 mounted on a submount 102, which is mounted on a substrate 101 having the required electrical wiring, a photodiode 104 directly mounted on the substrate 101, and a prism 105 fixed onto the photodiode 104 with an adhesive.
The laser beam 106 emitted from the semiconductor laser device 103 is reflected upwards at the prism 105. Then the laser beam 106 is transmitted through an optical fiber, not shown in the drawing, positioned above the prism 105 and reaches the other side.
A portion 107 of the laser beam 106 emitted to the other side from the optical fiber is reflected at the prism 105 and then is transmitted through the prism 105 to be received by the photodiode 104.
Such an optical semiconductor apparatus of a single-core bidirectional communication system enables single-core bidirectional communication.
The Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-45995 discloses an optical signal transmitter-receiver integrating a surface-emitting semiconductor laser device and a light-receiving device as an application of a single-core bidirectional communication. According to the disclosure, the optical signal transmitter-receiver facilitates alignment and can be applied to barcode readers and optical pickups of an optical recorder-player.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-45995 (p. 3, FIG. 1)